Sometimes parking on both sides of my road blocks two-way traffic. Can Council prohibit parking on one side?

Council does not generally restrict parking outside the scope of the Road Rules, as on-street parking is considered a valuable resource for the local community.

Most local roads within Maroondah City Council and across Melbourne are in line with State Government development guidelines. Their width allows for parking on both sides and provides 3m of clear roadway for through vehicles, which is enough for 1 car to drive through. See example below.

Sparse parking along most local streets usually permits two-way traffic flow, but more on-street parking can reduce access to one ‘through’ vehicle only. Drivers in these circumstances are expected to drive according to the road conditions, and will sometimes need to yield to oncoming vehicle. See the image below.

Can I park my vehicle on the nature strip?

The Victorian Road Rules state that vehicles cannot park on nature strips. Council therefore can’t give specific permission for parking on a nature strip, unless there are specially built areas such as indented bays.

Note that Victoria Police may administer a parking infringement penalty for parking on the nature strip.

What are the regulations for heavy or long vehicles parking on the road?

According to the road rules, heavy or long vehicles cannot be parked on a road for longer than 1 hour unless:

there is a specific traffic control device that permits the driver of a heavy or longer vehicle to park for longer than 1 hour, or

the driver is engaged in dropping off or picking up goods.

Under the Road Rule definitions, heavy vehicles have a gross vehicle mass of 4.5 tonnes or more and long vehicles are 7.5 metres or longer.

Can Council install an indented bay near my nature strip or indented bays in my street?

Council will only allow the construction of additional on-street parking (including indented parking bays) in a street if there is significant support demonstrated by residents, usually by letters or a petition. For Council to proceed with a parking scheme there must be a clear majority of support from the impacted property owners.

Costs for the parking works would be recovered from the abutting property owners by Council through a Special Rates and Charges Scheme under the provisions of the Local Government Act.

Generally, Council does not support the installation of isolated indented parking bays for specific properties. Council would generally only consider additional on-street parking works as part of a street-wide project or wider parking scheme.

Any extra parking that is created under a Special Rates and Charges Scheme will be available for public use and cannot be allocated only to abutting property owners.

I have a large vehicle, trailer, boat, or caravan. Can Council restrict parking near my driveway so I can get my vehicle out?

Unfortunately it is not practical for Council to set up parking controls that restrict parking within a typical residential street for the benefit of private oversized vehicle access.

We would expect you to make your own arrangements to ensure that the road space you need is free. These include:

Park your own car in the critical space.

Let your neighbours know that you will need access to that part of your street.

Make changes to your crossover or driveway to improve access.

Can Council prohibit parking near or opposite my driveway?

There are no Road Rules that prohibit parking near a driveway or on the opposite side of the road, so Council does not prohibit parking for access to private driveways.

If vehicles parked near your driveway make access difficult, we suggested that you:

explain your situation to your neighbor and ask them to leave some space next to or opposite your driveway

Shopping areas and business car parking

Parking restrictions nearby do not suit my business. Can Council change the restrictions?

Council would only consider altering short-term parking restrictions near shopping strips, or within Council-owned public car parks near activity centres, if there is significant trader support demonstrated by a joint letter.

Parking within commercial precincts is generally strategically managed to the benefit of all land uses (and potential land uses permitted under the zoning of the land). Council would not support the change of a parking restriction for the benefit of a single trader.

Can Council provide long term parking within Ringwood Square Car Park?

Council manages the availability of all-day parking within Council owned land. The property and car park of Ringwood Square Shopping Centre and many surrounding businesses are all under the ownership of their respective centre managements. Council has no authority to make changes to the parking arrangements within their premises.

We suggest your workplace contacts the relevant center managements to discuss parking arrangements for their staff.

Note: Some centre managements have agreements with Council to have their privately-owned carparks policed by Council Parking Enforcement Officers. Fines can be issued to drivers that do not adhere to the Victorian Road Rules.

Public Council parking

All public parking on Council-owned land is shown on the interactive map below with the blue ‘P’ symbol. Zoom into the area you’re interested in and more details will appear.

How does parking at Eastland work?

This privately-owned shopping center provides and manages its own parking arrangements. They also own several nearby parking areas outside the main complex, which also have parking restrictions.

Council Parking Enforcement Officers police the road rules within all Eastland-owned private property under agreement from their center management.

Railway station parking

Can Council provide more public parking at train stations?

Railway station car parks are developed, operated and maintained by the rail authority VicTrack.

Council often has the difficult task of managing parking in areas surrounding train stations that have a distinct lack of a rail commuter parking. In many circumstances, Council is unable to prioritise rail commuter parking over parking needs of local traders, visitors and residents. However, at the May 2019 Federal Election there was a $60million commitment from the Coalition to build 4 new multilevel carparks that will serve:

Ringwood Station - 482 spaces

Heatherdale Station - 447 spaces

Croydon Station - 487 spaces

Heathmont Station - 300 spaces.

At the 2018 State Election, the Labor Party committed $2million for carparking at Ringwood East Station.

Council has advocated, and will continue to advocate, to both levels of government for additional car parking for train patrons.

School parking

Can Council provide on-street pick-up bays near my children’s school?

Council does not implement afternoon pick-up parking bays near schools however, historically, some still exist within our municipality.

Short term parking bays for schools do not operate effectively during pick-up times in the afternoon. We have found these spaces encourage drivers to queue in the surrounding roads as they wait to enter these spaces, rather than driving past to find a vacant parking space.

These queues frequently cause illegal and unsafe driving behaviors such as double parking, parking longer than the time specified by the pick-up bay parking restriction, and general congestion of the roads.

Speeding and hooning

What can I do about cars speeding and hooning in my street?

Enforcement associated with speeding, hooning and other anti-social driving behavior is the responsibility of Victoria Police.

To help with these issues, you can:

record details of these events and report them to Victoria Police through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

provide the police with as much detail as possible so they can build a profile of the area and provide targeted responses.

If residents report hoon behaviour, offenders and hotspot areas can be identified and targeted for investigation and prevention measures.

The police have legislation that enables them to impound a vehicle if the driver is detected committing any of the following offences:

participating in a race or speed trial

improper use of a motor vehicle, which is the intentional loss of traction of one or more wheels, such as performing donuts, burnouts, handbrake turns or monos on a motorbike

dangerous driving committed in circumstances involving improper use of a motor vehicle

careless driving involving improper use of motor vehicle

failure to have proper control of the motor vehicle involving improper use

causing a motor vehicle to make excessive noise or smoke involving improper use

exceeding the speed limit by 45 km/h or more

travelling at 145 km/h or more in a 100 km/h zone

driving whilst disqualified or suspended.

Council officers cannot issue infringements for speeding, or impound vehicles for the above offences.

Can Council put speed humps or other traffic calming treatments in my street?

Council will investigate if traffic calming treatments are needed and determine how any works would be prioritised in the context of the limited Local Area Traffic Management budget that funds these works. The investigation may involve:

a review of VicRoads CrashStats data

discussions with the local police

investigatory site inspections of the locations

traffic counts and speed surveys

identifying and implementing any mitigating works if needed.

Each financial year, Council has the difficult task of assessing various streets and locations to apply for or allocate funds for mitigating traffic calming or improvements works. Council currently has an approximate 10-year program of Local Area Traffic Management projects currently waiting on funding to be implemented across the municipality.

If you want to know whether your street is already on Council’s list, please call Council’s Engineering team on 9298 4292.

Traffic and congestion

Keep Clear markings are primarily used to help motorists on a major road turn into a side road. This minimises delay to through traffic caused by stationary turning vehicles. See an example of this below:

Overuse of ‘Keep Clear’ linemarking reduces the overall effectiveness of the linemarking, including at locations where they are genuinely warranted.

Maroondah City Council is committed to protecting your privacy as prescribed by the Privacy & Data Protection Act 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001. The information you provide on this form is being collected by Maroondah City Council for the strict purpose of conducting Council business. Your information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, unless Council is required or authorised to do so by law. Failure to provide the information requested may make you ineligible to receive the service or be part of an event/function that is the subject of this form. Any access to the information, amendments that may be required or any privacy enquiries may be directed to Council's Privacy Officer & Health Records Officer on 9298 4211 or email privacy@maroondah.vic.gov.au

Maroondah City Council is committed to protecting your privacy as prescribed by the Privacy & Data Protection Act 2014 and the Health Records Act 2001. The information you provide on this form is being collected by Maroondah City Council for the strict purpose of conducting Council business. Your information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, unless Council is required or authorised to do so by law. Failure to provide the information requested may make you ineligible to receive the service or be part of an event/function that is the subject of this form. Any access to the information, amendments that may be required or any privacy enquiries may be directed to Council's Privacy Officer & Health Records Officer on 9298 4211 or email privacy@maroondah.vic.gov.au